Ex-Sena leader moves HC over ‘fund misappropriation’ by MP Gawali

Nagpur: A former Shiv Sena activist moved Nagpur bench of Bombay high court for an inquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Enforcement Directorate (ED) into misappropriation of funds at Shri Balaji Sahakari Particle Board Karkhana Limited, allegedly involving Yavatmal-Washim MP Bhavana Gawali.
A division bench comprising justices Vinay Deshpande and Amit Borkar issued notices to the respondents, including Maharashtra government, asking them to reply within ten weeks. Superintendent of police Washim, state director of marketing in Pune, and principal secretary of state department of cooperation and marketing are other respondents in the case.
Petitioner Harish Chandra Sarda, a former vice president of Shiv Sena unit in Washim, had lodged a police complaint against five-time MP Gawli for alleged money laundering and embezzlement by misusing powers along with her associates in obtaining grants and funds for the Balaji plant located at Malegaon. After Risod police station refused to accept his complaint, he approached Washim SP, but no progress was made. Later, he sent a representation to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. When nothing materialised, he approached the judiciary through counsel Amol Jaltare.
According to the petitioner, this is a matter of serious dereliction of duty by police officers, who are allegedly shielding the accused under political pressure. He said his complaint prima facie discloses commission of cognizable and non-bailable offences of fraud, cheating, and money laundering.
Started in 1998, the ground breaking ceremony of the factory was performed by Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. Pundlikrao Gawali, father of the Washim MP, was appointed as its chief promoter. It was set up to collect residue after crop cutting and use it for preparation of particle boards for making furniture, partition material and other purposes. The basic aim of the project was to provide employment opportunities to local farmers.
The petitioner contended that Gawali’s father illegally transferred 14.90 hectares of factory land to Mahila Utkarsha Pratishthan presided over by her in 2001, without obtaining permission from the competent authorities. The cooperative society land can’t be transferred to any public trust without the government approval, he said.
Sarda contended that a detailed and thorough investigation is needed as many documents are required to be seized from the accused. Some machinery required for the factory was bought from Germany and was lying in the dockyard for considerable time, as the factory never started functioning. In 1998, the estimated project cost was Rs43.85 crore but undervalued to Rs7.9 crore by a firm called Mitcon, and was later sold to Bhavna Agro Products run by Gawali on August 16, 2010.